Hi Chris, thank you. I am very much a novice as compared to many on this forum. That mill, as is almost all of the buildings on the layout, is a scratch build. I looked at pictures on the internet of real mills and of kits and used those as a template. On a teacher's/coach's salary, I found I had to cut corners somewhere (could not afford kits, the only kit is the gas station) and buildings was an obvious place. (Other scratch builds were the train station, Ranger Rick's General Store, freight station, Hamlin Coal Company, the refining and fill station, the oil derrick, the winery, the John Deere tractor store). The mill was my first try at scratch build and I did that a year before I started my layout. The pallet was originally just held up by a hook with no motion. Then I saw a pulley system built by a forum member, AG, (http://s115.beta.photobucket.c...0models/Brassdetails)and I bought one. It is a working pulley. I strung a line attached to the pallet through the pulley and down through the table and fastened it to a support. To make it move up and down, I rigged one of the slow motion motors I pictured and attached an oblong egg shaped piece of wood to it and placed that piece of wood adjacent to the line. As the motor turns, the longer part of the wood pushes against the string causing the pallet to rise.
Unfortunately with all of the neat things that AG is making now, the pulley system is not currently on the list. I am sure it was a pain to make, but he did an excellent job.
As for any video, I am not a youtube guru, but there are some videos up. If you check out Raccoon Creek Scenic Railroad, the layout has been on the Atlanta Piedmont Pilgrimage the past few years and several people have posted videos of it, the most recent being this past fall. It has also been chosen to be on the tour of layouts (one of 50 of all gauges) this summer for the NMRA convention that is being held in Atlanta.
Some of the buildings you will see on the layout are card stock buildings that turned out great (Willie's Hardware, maintenance shed, out house, scale station). I add strip wood and other things to give them dimension...lights too. Well, that was probably more than you wanted. Thank you again.
Rick
. Another great project from a great guy and modeler!!
